


crazy ideas are my specialty

by ilovenutella99



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fake Marriage, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Inspired By Tumblr, artist!Clarke, professor!bellamy, reckless and impulsive to another level
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2019-04-20 18:26:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14266968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilovenutella99/pseuds/ilovenutella99
Summary: Abby thinks that Clarke is reckless and impulsive in her life decisions. Clarke decides to be even more reckless and impulsive by getting married to a man she just met. Inspired by a text post.





	crazy ideas are my specialty

**Author's Note:**

> so this got away from me, as my fics usually do. this was actually inspired by a post that i will link below and i thought it was so hilarious and i had to write it for bellarke. canon is too tricky to write rn purely bc we don't know whats goin on so au will have to do. come talk to me on tumblr! clrxkeblxke
> 
> http://lesbianshepard.tumblr.com/post/153182037318/so-my-english-professor-told-us-this-story-last

In hindsight, agreeing to go on a cruise with her mother and step-father was not Clarke’s smartest move. Sure, she got to travel through the Caribbean for a week, but that also meant spending a week with only her mother and step-father. Granted, Abby asked if Raven wanted to come, and she immediately jumped at that offer. So, she’s not totally alone. But it sometimes feels like it.

By the evening of the first day, Clarke is already losing her mind. Abby spent most of dinner discussing how Clarke’s life choices have not been up to par lately, specifically because she chose to pursue a career in the fine arts. Sue her for doing something she enjoys. Sometimes Clarke thinks that Abby would sue her.

Her mother calls this decision “impulsive and reckless” even though she’s graduating next year. It’s not like she can change it now and besides, she enjoys what she does. She likes art, and she likes being able to express herself in a way that didn’t involve cutting someone open and performing open heart surgery. Abby’s just peeved that the Griffin family legacy of being award-winning doctors won’t carry over to her daughter. Her friends support her, she doesn’t understand why it’s so hard for her mother to support her in what she’s doing with her life. Hell, even Marcus supports her, though he won’t tell Abby that he does. And logically, she knows that her mother cares for her and is happy that she’s doing something she likes. Clarke thinks that she’s just worried she’s not going to be doing enough.

But Clarke bites her tongue all of dinner, listening to her mother continue to drone on and on about why her daughter would throw her life away. Finally Abby says something along the lines of “without my guidance you’d be even more reckless and impulsive” and Clarke’s had it.

“Y’know, Mom,” she starts, taking a bite of her chicken. Raven looks precariously between the quarreling mother and daughter. “If you would just look at what I’ve been able to do in the past three years then I don’t think I would look very impulsive. I have a job, an apartment, and money in the bank. I’m doing just fine.”

Abby looks like she wants to argue, but Marcus gives her a look and the conversation is dropped. Raven quickly fills the silence by bringing up how she nearly blew up the shop on campus by melting something, and Clarke perks up with delight. The conversation is no longer about her.

That night, after Raven and Clarke have retired to bed, Raven speaks up again. “Your mom says that you’re reckless and impulsive but like,” she pops a piece of chocolate into her mouth, “you really don’t do anything _that_ impulsive? Like, I could understand if you decided you were going to go skydiving without a parachute or try to drive stick shift,” Clarke throws a pillow at her, “but it really hasn’t been that bad.”

“She’s just losing her mind,” Clarke mutters, shifting so she can look at Raven in her bed. “You don’t think I made a mistake, right?”

Raven shakes her head. “No. You’re happy. You like your job, and they’ll practically be begging you to stay after graduation. I think you made the right choice. And I bet your mom will come around. Eventually.”

“Maybe I just have to do something even more reckless and impulsive,” Raven laughs and Clarke grins. “I’m serious! If I did something so completely and utterly crazy then she’d have to think my college degree is okay.”

“What would you even do, Griffin? If you haven’t noticed, we’re in the middle of the ocean.”

The blonde shrugs. “Maybe,” she frowns, “maybe when we get off the boat in Turks I’ll just stay there. That’ll show her.”

Raven snorts. “I think that would give her a heart attack.”

“Isn’t that the point?” The two collapse into giggles for a moment, Clarke finally choking out something else. “Or I can sneak a shark on board. Put it in the pool.” Raven laughs loudly again and slams her face into a pillow to muffle her laughter. Clarke’s side is in stiches as she howls in giggles. “Maybe I’ll get married.”

Raven continues to laugh, unaware that Clarke has suddenly stopped laughing and started thinking. “Yeah, like you would. You don’t know anyone on this boat.”

“Okay, but,” Clarke says, rolling onto her stomach, “what if I got fake-married.”

Her friend pulls the pillow from her face and raises a brow. “You’re serious.”

“I am! That would be totally so impulsive that she’d have to stop thinking about the rest of my poor life choices,” Clarke says and Raven grins a bit, “it wouldn’t be real, Ray. Obviously. I’m 21, marriage is not on my radar. It’s just a prank on my mom.”

“Yeah, you’d have to be dating someone to get married.” This earns another pillow getting thrown at her head. Raven ducks and it hits the wall with a thud. The two laugh again for a moment before Raven grins again. “I’m kidding. But how would you pull this off? We don’t know anyone on the boat.”

Clarke shrugs again, her brows coming together as she thinks. “Maybe,” Clarke pauses. “Maybe I’ll just ask a kind stranger on the boat if they’d like to be my fake fiancé or fiancée and fake husband or wife for a couple of days. I’ll explain what I’m trying to accomplish, and maybe they’ll think I’m just the right amount of crazy and they’ll go along with it.”

Raven chortles again. “Someone has to be crazy enough to agree to this.” Clarke rolls her eyes. “So you’re going to get your mom to forget the rest of your bad life choices by making yet another bad life choice.”

“Yes,” Clarke says, coming to a decision. “That is exactly what I’m going to do. It’ll be great, so glad I could get you in on it.”

The brunette makes a face, sticks her tongue out at Clarke, but then smiles. “You’re so lucky I’m ride or die, bitch. I don’t make bad decisions for just anyone.”

Clarke erupts into giggles again and the two spend the rest of the night plotting Clarke’s plan that’s surely going to become a disaster. She literally has nothing to lose though, so, it’s worth a shot.

* * *

 

They spend two days just enjoying themselves before they get to work. The stop in Turks and Caicos was incredible, and Clarke really did consider just staying there. But alas, she has bigger fish to fry in terms of terrifying her mother.

Once she got Raven on board, it was smooth sailing. Raven went all in, pointing out random people on the boat for Clarke to inspect. Guys, girls, anyone that she thought was attractive.

The most recent suggestion is a man with arms the size of tree trunks and hair longer than hers. Clarke snorts, “he looks like he could bite my head off if I looked at him the wrong way.”

“Kinky,” Raven says and Clarke rolls her eyes but laughs. “I mean if you’re into that—”

“Maybe you’re into that,” the blonde responds, grinning widely.

“Who said I wasn’t?” Clarke snorts as Raven continues to look around the ship’s deck. “Maybe we’ll just find some random guy on one of the islands and sneak him back onto the ship. I think that would be considered as reckless and impulsive.”

Clarke nods in agreement. “Would definitely fall under that category.”

They give up for the morning and quickly go to grab some breakfast, choosing to sit by themselves instead of Abby and Marcus. Clarke is trying to avoid another confrontation. There hasn’t been a bad one since the first night, but she wouldn’t put it past Abby to say something again.

They’re halfway through their meal when Raven sees him. “And then I said—whoa.”

“You said whoa?” Clarke responds, picking up a piece of pancake on her fork. “I don’t think that _whoa_ is the right answer for that situation, Raven.”

Raven rolls her eyes. “No, whoa as in _whoa_ , I think I just found your husband.” Clarke goes to turn around. “No! Don’t turn. Wait. I’m gonna try to get a picture.”

“Raven—” Clarke hisses, “wait. Maybe he’ll sit somewhere I can see him. Don’t take a picture. Don’t draw attention to ourselves.” Raven makes a face but puts her phone back down on the table. “What does he look like? If I can’t turn around to see for myself.”

The brunette sneaks another glance. “He’s on the taller side, probably not super tall but tall enough for you. He’s tan. Has dark, curly hair. Very nice arms. Good smile. He’s hot.”

Clarke nods, all of it sounding good. The curly hair is what got her. Sometimes she’s attracted to people and she doesn’t know if she’s actually attracted to them or just their curly hair. “Okay. Now that we’ve found him how do I tell him about this insane plan?”

“Hey, you came up with it. Reckless and impulsive, Griffin.”

“Not the point of that question.”

Raven nods and takes a sip from her mimosa. “I say we just go up to him. Get a couple mimosas in you and you go for it.”

“And if it backfires?”

“Then we drink more mimosas and find someone else.”

Clarke clinks her glass against Raven’s. “Sounds like a plan.”

So an hour later Clarke’s ready. She heads off to the bathroom quickly, making sure that she at least looks decent. Her cheeks are a bit sunburned but her hair looks alright so she tells herself she’s good. She’s a bit buzzed, but not enough to make her slur her words or fuck up that badly.

When she emerges from the bathroom, she finds that Raven is not at their table. No, instead she’s at the table of the boy and his friends. She doesn’t have a choice anymore. Raven set her up.

So Clarke scowls and then forces a smile onto her face when Raven calls her over. “And _this_ is Clarke.”

“Hi,” she says, looking around the table. The man does have curly hair. And lots and lots of freckles. It’s like constellations scatter across his entire face. “What are you doing over here, Raven?”

“I’m making friends,” she says simply, “and telling them that your mom thinks you’re reckless. This is Miller and Monty and Bellamy.” She nods at the three men at the table. Bellamy. That must be his name. They shake hands quickly.

Clarke makes a face at her friend. “Yep, that’s me. Reckless Clarke.” She wants to hit herself.

“Why does she think you’re reckless?” Bellamy says and oh god, his voice is low and gravely and that’s enough to make Clarke know he’s the one she wants to fake marry.

“Because I didn’t go to med school and went to art school instead,” Clarke says simply, cutting down all of the other bullshit that goes with that decision.

“That doesn’t seem very reckless,” he muses, crossing his arms over his chest. Is it possible for someone to have this nice of arms?

Clarke shrugs, “yeah, well it was the end of the world for her. Said I was ruining my life.”

“So Clarke has a plan,” Raven says and Clarke nods, going along with her friends way of getting it out there.

“Do you?” One of the other men speaks up, she thinks Monty, and Clarke nods. “Well, what’s your plan?”

“My mom says that I’m reckless and impulsive, but nothing I really do is _that_ reckless and impulsive—”

Raven tries to talk, “what about that time that you—”

“ _Anyways_ ,” she says, ignoring her, “my plan is to do something so reckless and impulsive that she leaves me alone. In short, I’m pranking my mom.”

“What could be so impulsive that could prank her this badly?”

Clarke tries to swallow her smile as these three men look at her like she’s crazy. “That’s where you come in. I need one of you to pretend to marry me to prank my mom. I know it’s insane but personally I think it’d be great.” Raven laughs from beside her.

All three of them crack smiles. The one named Monty laughs. “Well, Nate and I are together so that leaves Bellamy.” Bellamy looks very amused at the turn of events, as do his friends.

“ _Excellent_ ,” Raven mutters under her breath and Clarke nudges her in the ribs to get her to shut up. Raven chortles and has to turn away for a moment to stop herself from laughing so hard.

“Princess, I dunno why this was your first thought of how to prank your mom but I’m in. Where do we start?”

* * *

 

Clarke finds the first mate on deck soon after Bellamy agrees to fake marry her. She stops him and asks, “is there anyone on this ship that can marry people?”

The first mate nods. “Me, actually. Why, are you looking to get married?”

“Kind of?” Clarke offers back, shrugging her shoulders. “I have this ridiculously funny prank I want to play on my mom and I’m going to pretend to marry someone.”

The first mate howls with laughter. “Hell, I’m in. This is a good one.” Clarke snorts. “I’ll have to tell the Captain it’s a prank, or they’ll try to have a whole celebration. When are you planning it?”

“Tonight,” Clarke says, snorting. She’s introducing Bellamy to her mother and step-father at lunch.

“You really are pulling out all the stops.”

“Go big or go home,” Clarke replies and the first mate grins and hurries off to tell the Captain and other crewmembers.

Around lunchtime, Clarke meets Bellamy outside of the dining center of the ship. He rolls his eyes when he spots her. “How exactly are you planning for this to go down?” She pulls to a stop in front of him and grins.

She shrugs. “I haven’t really thought it through yet, if I’m being honest.” Bellamy snorts. “All I know is that she’ll probably want to cause a scene, but my step-father will stop her from doing that.”

“Then this is gonna go well, I’m sure.” Bellamy responds, nodding his head a bit. She’s thankful that he’s still smiling about the whole situation that she threw him into.

“This is probably going to backfire in my face,” Clarke replies, while laughing. “At least it’ll be a good story.” Bellamy nods, still looking very amused.

As they enter the room, she feels Bellamy take her hand and she raises a brow, “if we’re getting married tonight we might as well look the part.” She snorts, but feels a bit of warmth pool in her belly at his touch. Jesus, Clarke, get it together. This is just a prank. Nothing more.

Abby looks very confused as Clarke pulls up to the table with Bellamy in tow. “I didn’t know you were bringing a friend tonight. Where’s Raven?”

“She’s with a couple people we’ve met,” Clarke says, sitting down in her chair as Bellamy sits in his. “This is Bellamy.” Abby and Marcus exchange looks but reach across the table to shake his hand. Bellamy looks at her from behind his menu and bites his lip to keep from laughing. She has to do the same. This is so ridiculous but so much fun.

They’re just getting their appetizers when Abby finally asks the question she’s been dying to ask since they showed up. “Clarke, how do you know Bellamy?”

“Oh,” she says, finding Bellamy’s hand from under the table. She places their twined hands together on the table. “Well, I met him this morning and we’re in love and also getting married.”

Abby’s fork clatters to the table, her brows high on her forehead. “You _what_?”

“I’m getting married.” Abby splutters, struggling to find words. “Tonight.”

“ _Clarke_!”

“Mom!” She replies, “we love each other so we’re getting married.”

“You can’t marry a man you just met!” Abby says, desperately trying to reason with Clarke. Her voice is reaching higher octaves as she struggles with her words. “It’s preposterous.”

“Well, I love him, so I’m going to marry him.”

Then, Abby turns to Bellamy. “You agreed to this?”

“I asked her,” he responds smoothly, smiling at Clarke. “I love her. And she wanted to get married right away, so we are.”

Abby doesn’t say a word the rest of lunch. Marcus makes conversation with Clarke and Bellamy, squeezing information about his soon-to-be-but-not-really son-in-law. Marcus is very polite, asking about Bellamy’s life and what he does for a living. Clarke knows he doesn’t have a clue how to handle this. She doesn’t think it was in the How To Handle Your Rogue Stepdaughter handbook.

By the time lunch is over, Clarke’s about to fall over from laughter. Bellamy doesn’t look much better and they collapse against a wall after Abby and Marcus disappear. “That went well,” he chokes, “I didn’t think she’d actually be pissed.”

Clarke waves him off. “Oh, I knew she would. All in good fun. She’ll be fine once she realizes it’s a prank. She might disown me but,” she shrugs and Bellamy grins again.

“You should go a step further,” he says, “make it Facebook official.”

Clarke gasps a bit and grins, grasping his hand tightly. “That’s brilliant, Bellamy! And then I’ll invite everyone to our wedding in the middle of the ocean.” He laughs loudly as she digs in her bag for her cell phone to quickly change her status. She finds him quickly and tags him, grinning as he reaches into his pocket for his phone.

Almost instantly her phone is flooded with notifications of people congratulating her. She frowns a bit. “I don’t know if I should be happy or not that my friends are actually believing that I’d marry a random stranger I met like, three hours ago.”

“They don’t know that,” Bellamy mutters, looking through the replies. “They really think that you’re actually going to get married.”

“Damn, they’re going to be mad at me when I tell them the truth.”

Bellamy’s phone dings and he starts at it intently for a moment before letting out of breath of air between his teeth. “Well you’ve dragged me down this hole too. I just got a very angry text from my sister.” Clarke starts to feel guilty but Bellamy shakes his head. “Don’t feel bad. It’s the first time she’s spoken to me in months. Good to know she’s still watching.” His phone dings again and he rolls his eyes. “My friend Murphy thinks I’m a dick for not telling him.”

“Maybe you are a dick and I just don’t know that yet.”

“I mean, you’ve already proposed, you can’t just tell me you changed your mind now,” Bellamy teases. Clarke rolls her eyes and shoves him lightly, but they’re both smiling. “Here,” he says, passing his phone to her, “put in your number so I know where to meet you later.”

“Trying to trick me into giving you my number?”

“If it’s working, then yeah,” Bellamy says, ducking his head a bit as she types in her number. She swears his cheeks are pink. “Okay,” he says, standing up. “I have to go explain to Monty and Miller what I’ve gotten myself into for tonight, but I will text you.”

“Sounds good,” Clarke responds as he helps her up. “See you tonight.”

* * *

 

Their “wedding” is a bit of a blur to Clarke. The first mate arranged for it to happen in front of the 8 o’clock crowd in the dining hall and so now she sits at a table with her mother and step-father waiting for the signal.

Abby is very clearly getting increasingly more freaked out as time ticks by. Marcus is obviously frazzled and keeps asking Clarke if she’s sure. But she just keeps nodding and smiling, struggling not to laugh to herself. Raven is struggling to keep herself under control as well, as she’s bouncing in her seat and grinning wildly. Bellamy, Monty and Nate sit at a table that’s a few over from theirs. Bellamy keeps texting her funny jokes about being left at the alter and at some point, she lets a laugh bubble out of her. Clarke looks over at him and he grins, giving her a thumbs up.

And then it’s time to actually get married which is an experience in itself. It’s by no means traditional; they have no rings, no aisle, no dress or tux, but it’s so funny. The first mate makes a big show of announcing that there’s going to be a wedding and the small group of people in the dining room all buzz with excitement.

The first mate calls them both up and they spend most of the ceremony trying not to laugh at each other and the whole situation. Because everything was so last minute, they don’t have rings to put on each other but neither seem to mind. Bellamy finds it hilarious and they have to spend two minutes trying to catch their breaths. The minute one of them stops laughing the other starts laughing, which only starts the cycle again.

And then the first mate announces them husband and wife, or, as fake husband and fake wife and the room claps. Clarke raises a teasing brow at Bellamy when he’s instructed to kiss the bride, but he doesn’t disappoint. He grips her waist tightly and pulls her closer, his lips planting on hers as if they’ve done this hundreds of times. She almost gasps into his mouth at the feeling of kissing him and he deepens the kiss. Clarke dimly hears someone from the crowd whistle right before he pulls away, smiling broadly at her. She’s a bit dazed, and if she’s being honest, a bit turned on.

But it’s done the trick, and Abby looks as if she’s conflicted on whether to be happy or mortified. 

* * *

 

The next morning, after hanging out around the ship for most of the night with Raven, Bellamy, Monty and Miller (she figured out that Monty’s the _only one_ who can call Nate Nate) Clarke finally sees her mother. Abby still looks conflicted as Clarke approaches her.

“Clarke,” Abby says, “how are you?”

“I’m good,” she responds, giving her mother a smile. She and Bellamy agreed that Clarke would tell her mother everything the next morning. Bellamy made her promise to talk to her mother about the whole degree thing after he found out more of the story. He only found out the story when Raven let it slip a little bit, but then Clarke felt obligated to tell him the rest of it, as he did fake marry her for it. Turns out he’s really good to talk to.

“How’s,” she pauses, “where’s Bellamy?”

Clarke shrugs, reaching to grab a plate. “I’m not sure. Probably with Monty or Miller.”

“Shouldn’t you two be doing, uh, newlywed things?” Abby says the word as if it’s poison in her mouth and Clarke knows it’s time to let her off the hook.

“No,” she responds, “because we’re not actually married.”

Abby’s brows shoot off her face and she clutches her plate a bit tighter. “What?”

“We’re not actually married,” Clarke repeats, turning back to her mother. “C’mon, Mom. Do you really think I’d marry a man I just met?”

“The official—”

“The official faked it for us. You said I was reckless and impulsive for picking a degree that I like. I decided to be even more reckless and impulsive,” Clarke explains as she gets her breakfast. “Mom, I love my degree. I love what I do and I love the fine arts. I didn’t want to be a doctor, and I thought that you knew that.”

Abby’s quiet as they continue getting their food. It’s not until they get to the table that she speaks up again. “So, you went through all of this trouble to _prank_ me?”

Clarke nods. “I did. And personally, I think it was really funny. I probably gave you a heart attack so I’m sorry about that but if you think I’m reckless and impulsive at least I didn’t really get married to someone I just met.”

Abby processes this information and then sighs. “Clarke. Listen, honey, I’m not happy that you pranked me like this. I’m sure in a few days it will be funny,” Clarke snickers, “but I am sorry if I made you feel like this was the only way to get the attention off of everything else. I only wanted you to be a doctor because of the job security. We always need doctors. And I know you love the fine arts, I’ve seen some of your work and it’s incredible! I’m just worried about how you’re going to make a living off of it.”

“Mom,” Clarke says, “I think I’m going to be fine. I have a huge passion for this and if you care about something this much then it’s most likely going to work out. I think the gallery is going to keep me on staff once I graduate. They’ve already talked about looking at some of my pieces. I’m going to be fine, Mom.”

“You’re my little girl, Clarke,” Abby says, and the blonde almost rolls her eyes. “And that’s never going to change. I’m also never going to stop worrying about you, either. But if this is what you want to do, then do it. I think I’ve always known you were going to be fine. I was just worried. But if you _ever_ play another prank like that on me—”

“Don’t worry,” Clarke interrupts, “next time I get married it will be for real. I promise.” Abby finally nods and cracks a small smile. Clarke takes a sip of her drink and says, “at least you don’t have to tell all of your friends that your wedding was a lie.”

* * *

 

Clarke’s leaving Starbucks when someone crashes into her, effectively spilling her tea all down her front.

“Oh—shit,” the person says, “ _shit_ , I’m sorry. I was in a rush and—” Clarke looks up from her spilled drink and finds the last person she would have thought to see. “Clarke?”

“Bellamy?” And then she laughs a bit. And he cracks a smile. “What are you doing here?”

“I live here.”

She raises a brow. “At the Starbucks on D Street?” Bellamy makes a face and then edges her out of the doorway, back into the shop. She discreetly tries to look him over. Just as tall as she remembers, but so much broader. He’s filled out a bit. His glasses are perched on his nose and he, if possible, has more freckles scattered across his face.

“No, in Boston.” Clarke pulls her eyes from his body and watches him grab a handful of napkins and she dabs at her sweater. “Shit, I am sorry about that. I wasn’t paying attention.”

She waves him off. “You’re good. I wasn’t either. In fact, I actually hate this sweater, so it’s a good excuse to accidentally lose it.”

Bellamy laughs and her heart flutters a bit. “At least let me get you another drink. Unless you’ll be late to wherever you’re going?”

Clarke shakes her head. “No, I won’t. Work doesn’t mind.” Bellamy nods quickly and gets her order and Clarke disappears into the bathroom to wipe the rest of the tea off of her.

Bellamy Blake lives in Boston. She never expected to see him again. Sure, they communicated off and on through text for a few months after the cruise, but it was never anything that could progress from the occasional text about Greek and Roman mythology or something stupid that an artist did. Eventually he stopped responding and she stopped texting. Figured it was just how it was. And then it had turned into a year, and then a year and a half. That doesn’t stop her from thinking that he’s handsome and that she’d still sleep with him if he asked.

She doesn’t dwell on it. Instead she makes her way back to the main part of the shop and he hands her a cup. She nods her thanks and they exit the store quietly. “Which way are you headed?” Bellamy asks, taking the top off of his drink and blowing on it quickly.

“Left,” Clarke says and he grins.

“Good, me too.” So she falls in step beside him. She supposes it’s weird, but neither are making it seem weird at all. “So,” Bellamy says as they stop at a crosswalk. “What have you been up to since we got married?”

Clarke can’t stop the bubble of laughter from escaping her. What an elaborate prank. “I don’t know if I would consider that married,” Clarke teases, but answers his question with a smile. “I work at an art gallery. The same one I worked at in college, actually, but after I graduated they apparently thought I was good at my job and hired me again. They’ve commissioned a couple of my pieces which is _really_ cool, so that’s a lot of fun.”

“Didn’t know you were a big shot artist,” Bellamy muses, nudging her with his elbow and Clarke grins. “That’s great. And exciting.”

“Mmhmm,” Clarke replies as they start to cross. “What about you?”

“I teach,” he says, “I’m a professor at the University of Massachusetts. Ancient history.”

Clarke has to stop her eyes from rolling out of her head. “I expected nothing less.” He nudges her side again. “What are you doing in the city on a Tuesday morning, then?”

“I don’t have class on Tuesday’s until 1, and I actually had a meeting earlier with my realtor so I was in the city.” Clarke nods. “You work in the city?”

She nods again. “Yeah, actually right up there. That’s why the Starbucks and I have a great relationship. I’m there far too often.” She points to her gallery and watches as his eyes swing to inspect it.

“You’ve got yourself a fancy joint here, Griffin.”

Clarke rolls her eyes again as they pull to a stop next to the door. “It’s not that fancy, stop exaggerating. We’ve been doing some remodeling so it will be fancy, but by all means it’s nowhere near fancy now.” Bellamy laughs and the conversation lulls for a moment.

“And your mom? I remember she wasn’t too keen on this life choice of yours,” Bellamy says, his eyes still searching the expanse of the building.

“She came around. We talked a lot about it and how it was my life, not hers. She said that she knew I’d be fine but it was just hard to let me go, especially when this career path is difficult for a lot of people,” Clarke says and he gives her a smile and a nod of approval “I, uh,” she pushes some hair behind her ear and digs for her keys with her free hand, “I should probably go, though. My boss probably has something for me to sell.”

Bellamy nods. “Yeah. Of course.”

“It was nice to see you,” Clarke says lamely, offering him a smile and he responds with one, effectively getting her stomach to knot itself.

“Yeah, you too.” She starts to turn to let herself in when Bellamy’s hand catches her arm gently. She stops and turns back to face him. Her eyes drop to his lips as his tongue darts out to wet them. “Would,” he pauses, running a hand through his curls. “Would it be too forward of me to ask you to dinner?”

Clarke’s cheeks go about three shades pinker and she bites her lip to keep from smiling too broadly. “I don’t think so. If you’re asking, that is.”

“I am.”

“Then sure,” Clarke says, her heart pounding in her chest. “I’ll go to dinner with you.”

“Huh,” he says, looking a bit confused. “I didn’t think that’d work.”

Clarke laughs and takes a sip of her tea to stop herself from smiling. “Well it did, Blake, so get used to it.” Bellamy smirks and Clarke laughs. “You have my number. Text me and we can figure it out.”

“Actually,” he says a bit sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t.” Her brows shoot upward. “I got a new phone and number a few months after we met and I lost most of my contacts, and I was never able to get yours back. I tried, but I couldn’t.” That would explain the sudden lack of response she got from him, but it’s no matter because he’s standing in front of her now. Asking her on a date. She almost can’t believe it.

Clarke waves him off again. “Give me your phone.” He hands it over and she taps her number in quickly, before handing it back. “There. Now you have my number. Text me, and we can figure it out.” She repeats and he grins, nodding.

“As long as I don’t have to wait too long to take you do dinner.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

As soon as she’s inside, she gets a text from Bellamy. And then she texts Raven: _you will never believe what just happened to me._

* * *

 

Their first date goes really well in terms of first dates. Until Clarke gets food poisoning, that is. They go to dinner, take a walk through old town Boston, and then end up back at Clarke’s watching a movie. It’s only an hour into the movie when she starts throwing up, and Bellamy stays with her until he’s sure she’s okay. He’s genuinely very sweet and gentle with her while she’s throwing up which makes her want to latch onto him forever.

Their second date goes much better than the first, mostly because no one starts throwing up halfway through it. Because Clarke knows the area better than him, seeing as she’s lived in Boston her entire life, he lets her decide where to go. They end up at the Arnold Arboretum, one of Clarke’s favorite places in the entire world. It’s a little chilly so they walk hand in hand through the park. Clarke clings to his warmth and he kisses her for the first time by one of the ponds. Technically it’s not the first time, considering they briefly kissed when they got “married”, but Clarke counts it as the first time.

They stay in for their third date. They order takeout and settle in on Bellamy’s couch to watch Harry Potter. They argue about which one to watch, but finally agree that if they’re watching Harry Potter, they’re starting from the beginning. Then they get into an argument about Hogwarts Houses and where the other belongs, but it’s all in good fun. Clarke practically jumps his bones when he finally guesses correctly where she would get sorted, but she knows he doesn’t mind at all.

It's later that night when Bellamy finally brings it up. “Was this because I guessed your house?”

Clarke laughs and rolls closer to him, her leg sliding between his. Bellamy grins and wraps his hands around her waist. “Maybe. Maybe I just wanted to have sex with you.”

He snorts and dips down to kiss her again, his lips peppering kisses across her face. “I wanted to have sex with you, too. And I wanted to guess your house correctly, so look who did both.” Clarke rolls her eyes cups his cheek with her hand.

“You lucky bastard,” she murmurs and Bellamy laughs brightly.

“I am a lucky guy,” he replies, and she feels her cheeks go a bit pink. “You staying tonight?”

Clarke shifts in bed, sitting up on her elbow. “If you want me to.” She hasn’t stayed over yet, and god, she wants to. But they only started dating a month ago.

“I _want_ ,” Bellamy emphasizes, rubbing circles into her hip, “if you want to stay, you can. But if you don’t you can go. It’s okay.”

“You don’t think it’s too fast?” Clarke asks and Bellamy’s eyes meet hers.

And then he shrugs. “I don’t know. We did everything backwards, we got married first.” Clarke rolls her eyes and swats his chest lightly and he grins before taking her hand. He kisses her palm. “Clarke, I want to be with you for a very long time. It’s not too fast if you’ve got a very long time.”

Clarke laughs, dipping down to kiss him again. Warmth blossoms in her chest at his words. A very long time. God, that makes her feel so, so loved. She rolls so she’s straddling him, her hands pressed into his cheeks. His hands lock on her waist and then she smiles, pulling back a bit. “I’ll stay,” Clarke whispers and he smiles widely, flipping them gently to take her into the night again.

* * *

 

It’s a beautiful September day. They’re celebrating. Another piece of Clarke’s artwork got commissioned, and Bellamy was eager to find a way to celebrate. So they end up at the arboretum, because it’s one of her favorite places in Boston. Bellamy brought a picnic and everything and Clarke swings their hands between them as they walk.

“They already asked me to start working on another one,” she tells him and he smiles, nodding.

“You’re at high demand, I guess. You’re just that good at what you do.” Even after two years of dating, he still manages to get her cheeks to flush and her stomach to erupt in butterflies.

They finally pull to a stop in some shade because Bellamy doesn’t want her to get sunburned. Clarke rolls her eyes but silently thanks him, remembering their trip to the North Carolina beach in June where she was a lobster after the weekend. They lay down the blanket and Clarke settles on it, crossing her legs under her as she passes him his sandwich. He nods his thanks and they eat quietly, occasionally saying something about their weeks.

Bellamy talks about how the guys in one of his classes continually make bad jokes about Greek and Roman gods and how he struggles not to laugh at them. And then he says that on Friday he finally cracked and couldn’t help himself.

Clarke grins and pops a grape into her mouth. “You’re such a dork, Bell.”

He smiles back, and nods. “I am. But you love me.”

Her head falls back in happy laughter. “I do. I love you very much. But you’re such a dork.”

“And you aren’t? You cry at the end of Harry Potter and Star Wars—”

“Because those movies are worth crying at! You _know_ I get emotional when Harry sends his kids to Hogwarts!”

Bellamy laughs, holding his hands up in defense, “I’m not saying that’s a bad thing! I just think it’s cute and dorky and one of the many things I love about you.”

“Such a romantic,” Clarke murmurs, smiling when he reaches for her to kiss her. She hums against his lips and he grins, deepening their kiss for a moment. There aren’t many people out on a Sunday at noon and she’s thankful that this moment is just for them.

Bellamy’s the one who pulls back, tipping her chin up to kiss her cheek once more. “I’ve got cookies,” he says, pulling out a tin.

“Mm, I hope they’re your chocolate chip ones. Those are the _best_.”

“What else would I pack?” Clarke grins when he passes her one. She moves so she’s sitting between his legs, leaning back against his chest. She just wants to be close to him. She’s incredibly happy, especially with him. They chat quietly, and he presses occasional kisses to her cheek. His phone rings and she groans when he reaches over to grab it. He frowns.

“It’s the head of my department, I gotta take this. I’ll be right back. I’m sorry.”

She waves him off. “It’s okay! It’s your job. I won’t go anywhere.” Bellamy smiles and plants a kiss to the top of her head before walking away a bit to answer his phone. She watches him for a moment, watches how he shoves his hand in his pocket only to take it out a second later to run it through his hair. Everything about him is so endearing, god she’s so in love.

Clarke smiles to herself and grabs another cookie, nibbling on it before laying backwards and basking in the nice weather. It’s only going to be warm enough to do this for a few more weeks and she’s taking in every second. Thankfully when it gets cold she can just be closer to Bellamy and be just as warm.

Clarke hears his footsteps approach and she smiles but doesn’t open her eyes. “Everything okay?” She asks quietly, stretching in the sun.

“Yeah, everything’s great. Really good.” His voice is light and happy as he speaks. “Clarke?”

“Hm?”

“Can you open your eyes?”

Clarke raises a brow, but does as she’s told, peeling her eyes open to find him. And when she does, she sits up quickly, taking in the sight before her.

Bellamy’s on one knee, with the most hopeful look on his face. Her eyes dart from his to the small box in his hand. He smiles and then swallows. “I had uh, I had a whole thing planned to say. And I literally _forgot_ all of it, but I’m gonna do my best.”

She swears this man can make her want to cry without even trying. Bellamy starts to talk again, his voice unwavering. “We’ve been married once.” Clarke lets out a watery laugh, itching to reach for him. “And I know I joke about it a lot, but it didn’t really count. And I want this one to count because I’m so in love with you and I know I’m going to be for the rest of my life. Because you’re the most extraordinary woman I’ve ever met and I think I’ve known that since the moment I met you.”

“Bellamy,” Clarke starts, her hand finally grasping one of his.

But he keeps going. “So,” he swallows again, “if you’ll take me, I’d like to marry you. Will you marry me?”

She laughs and gets up on her knees to move closer to him. “You’re an idiot,” she starts, and his face drops, as does her stomach, “no! _Oh_ , that’s not what I meant— _shit_ , I’m sorry. _Fuck_. You’re an idiot for thinking I wouldn’t take you.” Bellamy lets out a shaky laugh and Clarke launches herself towards him, crashing her lips against his. His arms wrap tightly around her and their kiss is sloppy because they’re both smiling too hard. Bellamy pulls back but doesn’t go far, bumping his nose against hers.

“So?”

Clarke laughs, pressing her lips against his again briefly. “Of course I’ll marry you, Bell.” And now he pulls back further, fumbling with the box in his hands while trying to keep an arm around Clarke. Finally, he gets the ring out and Clarke wants to cry because it’s perfect because it’s simple and beautiful and perfect. His shaking hands finally get it on her finger and she gazes down at it. She looks back up at Bellamy and wipes under his eyes quickly. “I love you so much. More than you’ll ever know.”

* * *

 

Two months later they start receiving RSVP’s. Raven didn’t even have to RSVP, already so overjoyed that she immediately accepted Clarke’s invitation to be her maid of honor. Murphy’s comes in next. Clarke reads his RSVP out loud to Bellamy when they receive it.

“I’m coming but I swear if this is a fake one I’m going to _fucking murder you both_ ,” Clarke reads and Bellamy collapses in laughter, “he underlined the last four words for emphasis. Oh, look at that, he’s bringing a plus one. Maybe she’ll prevent him from murdering us.”

Bellamy laughs and swings an arm around her waist to inspect the paper. “Why do I get the feeling most of these are going to say the same thing?”

“Because our friends believed it the first time,” Clarke laughs, “and they won’t want to fly to Boston only to get pranked again.”

Bellamy laughs and presses a kiss to her cheek. “Does your mom still not believe you?”

Clarke snorts. “She says she’s not falling for it again,” she says. Abby knew that the two had reconnected and eventually started dating, but flat out didn’t believe Clarke when she said they were engaged. “I know she’ll believe it eventually, but this is just _too_ funny. Maybe I’ll bring over all of this planning and drop it on the table and she’ll have to believe me.”

Her fiancé rolls his eyes, eyeing her ring. “I don’t know why the ring on your finger didn’t make her believe you.”

“Because she’s stubborn,” Clarke replies, sorting through a few more of the envelopes.

“Sounds like someone else I know,” he mutters under his breath and Clarke rolls her eyes.

She continues sorting and laughs again at Miller and Monty’s response. “If you decide to prank us again, let us know _before_ we fly out there.” Bellamy rolls his eyes. “I don’t think they believe us.”

“They have to. They know how disgustingly in love with you I am.”

* * *

 

Clarke’s just getting Jason up from his nap when the front door opens quietly. Jason perks up a bit in her arms. “Who’s that, bud? Is that Daddy?” He makes a sleepy noise and settles his head on her shoulder, his messy curls stuck to his head from his nap. “Let’s go see Daddy.”

She carefully maneuvers out of the dark room and into the hallway to find Bellamy pulling his jacket off by the door. His face lights up when he sees who’s coming towards him.

Jason turns and spots his dad and wiggles from Clarke’s arms, quickly waking up. He patters across the floor loudly, giggling as he goes. “Daddy!”

Bellamy catches him when he stumbles, laughing as he lifts him up into a hug. “Hey, little man. Have a good nap?” Her husband brushes their son’s hair from his forehead. Jason’s head bobs up and down and Bellamy crosses to give Clarke a quick kiss.

“He just woke up,” she tells him and he nods.

“I see that. Lucia still asleep?”

Clarke nods as Jason tells Bellamy about how he played with trains this morning. “She’s been asleep for a while. _I_ got to nap today.” Bellamy nods at her with a smile and turns back to their four-year-old son, setting him down gently on the floor next to his trains. Clarke turns and reaches for the baby monitor quickly and turns it up to make sure their daughter’s room is still quiet. “I’m gonna start dinner. Anything in mind?”

Bellamy shakes his head, but Jason sits up and toddles to his mother. “I wanna help,” he says firmly.

“You wanna help with dinner?” Clarke asks, squatting down to tickle his sides. Jason giggles and wraps his arms around her neck tightly. “If you wanna help you gotta wash your hands. Can you do that for me?”

Jason nods wildly and shows her his hands. “I can. Can Daddy help me?” Jason adores his father. And Bellamy adores his son. So it works well.

“Let’s go, Jason.” Bellamy says, taking one of his chubby toddler hands and leading him to the kitchen. “You know how to wash?” Clarke hears Bellamy’s voice from the kitchen just as the baby monitor erupts with noise. “You got her?”

“Yeah,” Clarke responds, thinking that she spoke too soon about Lucia sleeping all day. Of course, as soon as Clarke enters their daughter’s room she quiets. “Just lonely?” She murmurs, reaching into the crib to lift up their year-old daughter.

Lucia babbles a bit as Clarke cradles her tightly. “Probably time to get up anyways,” she tells her, “Daddy’s home, Lucia. Let’s get you a new diaper and they we’ll go see Daddy.”

Later that night, after the kids are back asleep, Clarke curls up next to Bellamy on the couch. They watch a rerun of some reality show that they’re watching as they wait for the new episode to come on. This is their time. They don’t get as much of it anymore now that Jason and Lucia take up so much of it, but neither of them mind very much. They love their children very much and love spending time as a family.

Suddenly he laughs and she turns in question. “I forgot to tell you,” he starts, “I told my class about us today.”

Clarke raises a brow. “How did our marriage come up in Ancient History?”

Bellamy grins, tightening his grip on her waist. “I’m not sure. We got off topic, as we usually do on Friday’s. We were talking about courtship, and somehow it got to how you technically tried to court me when I didn’t even know you.” Clarke snorts and remembers the look on his face when she asked him to fake marry her. “So I told them how we met and why you tried to get me to marry you on the boat.

Clarke laughs. “What’d they think?”

He runs his free hand through his hair and grins. “I don’t know if they believed it. I think they thought I was making it up because I could.” Clarke smiles again. “But, every word was true. I told them we had kids and I still don’t think they believed me.”

She rolls her eyes and rests her head back on his shoulder. “Doesn’t matter what they think. All that matters is that my mom thought I was reckless and impulsive and I ended up with the best husband and the best family.”

The look on his face tells her that it was the best decision of her life.


End file.
